Purity

the rain came
the rain came
for the first time in a hundred years
the rain came
small green things
small green things
grew a little bolder
took on brand new names
when the rain came

and you said
"someday someone is gonna love you
like i do."
someday someone is gonna love you
for a very, very long time.

the birds stared
the birds stared
from underneath their shelters
huddled for warmth
and holding you tightly
our clothes dripped
our clothes dripped
as we stood there in the doorway
and didn't know enough
to get out of the rain

and you said
"someday someone is gonna love you 
like i do."
someday someone is gonna love you
in a way i only wish i could.

Earthworm

the rivers ran blood red
and pushed up against the levees
the rivers ran blood red
and pushed up against the levees
and all the insects and the frogs
were roaming 'round in gangs
didn't know who to trust

the california forests were burning
on the summer you came back to me
the california forests were burning
on the summer you came back to me
and the flames licked high
all the years passed by
but i got asbestos for memories

now you're in some kind of trouble
and you have only yourself to blame
now you're in some kind of trouble
and you have only yourself to blame
and don't feel bad, 'cause i know
if our situations were reversed
that you'd tell me the exact same thing

End Times Missed Connection

parked down beneath a lamp post
reflections on the windshield
pale moon stark against the sky
like a cut that never healed
and if i should fail in my duty
would you just shoot me 
right where i stand?
if the cameras catch us down here
things are gonna get out of hand

let it all
ride
let it all ride tonight
let the world turn on without me
i'll go down without a fight

hang a photo of a blackbird
in all the old cathedrals
shake the dust down off the rafters
try to rid the world of evil
electric tension
crackling in the air
for a hundred miles around me
you're the only thing that's there

let it all
ride
let it all ride tonight
let the world turn on without me
i'll go down without a fight
yeah yeah!

Cracked Lake Bed

kinda karmic,
like a landslide
of the reasons that 
i tore this thing apart
coming over
all sedated;
shut up the kicking
screaming broken hearts.

windows broken,
shit's knocked over,
and everything is slo-mo,
distant, filtered,
and you pause it,
shut the scene down;
yeah tell me just who
in this crowd's the killer.

and when i see you again,
i know 
you're just a fingernail
moon

raking down now,
drawing blood and
leaving scars that won't
be leaving soon.

Stupid Thing In E

up the overpass,
down on the surface streets,
motor humming on quiet
through the dripping leaves.
ended up on the hill,
looking down over piedmont.
radio crying out
when you pulled the ignition,
choking off a song
i think you once said was about us,
but i blanked on the words
as you sang it real soft
and right then i knew
that you were alive,
in a way that we both knew i wasn't
you were alive.

Jane Parker

early evening hit,
and suddenly there was everything:
the heatwave of 
late january in california;
the white gold haze
hovering by the back door;
the sense that nothing
is ever as real as we want it to be.
and i'll cop to being sentimental
sometimes, and you knew
how to use that against me.
but in terms of anchors,
it's hard to beat you,
standing easy
in the lazy light.

"to be reborn in fire"
was the theme that came last fall:
the third shutdown
due to mad bomber or copper
wire thief; the
feeling that me and everyone
i knew were
picking the ashes hungrily.
and i don't know what i want,
and i really can't explain,
and as you walked into the distance
i kinda wished that it would rain.
in terms of motors,
i hoped yours was good,
that it'd get you a long
long long long long long long
way.

Unmaking

she poisoned your well 
of get-up-and-go,
and put all the blame 
on the people you know.
said that they sold you 
out to the freak show--
and i guess that's how you got this way.

she treated you just 
like a fat little king,
and the skin on your fingers 
grew 'round her gold rings,
and your royal guard 
never did a damn thing,
and i guess that's how you got this way.

no she hasn't done anything wrong,
was deaf 
and dumb 
and blind all along.
i guess it's whatever, 
stupid thing to say,
i guess that's how you got this way.

she called you a liar, 
she called you a whore,
as you ran out the doorway 
and slammed the front door;
and i know you don't wanna 
talk about her no more
but you know that's how you get this way.
yeah you know that's how you get this way.

when the heat and sound and motion
come just right through the pines,
and the whole house starts to shudder
every time we speak our minds,
when the geese out in the backyard
are fat and full of light,
when the conversation tips
invisibly into a fight,
and i hear the tongues that came before you,
rolling down the hills,
when you say you'll always love me
when i know you never will.
but that won't stop you
from standing up
in the back of the car,
and spreading
your arms
impossibly wide,
and making a sound
i didn't know you could make,
and leaving me with the question,
"what is it that i want to remember?"

Colorado Song

hanging on a headrush
and i'm calling your name
but you don't hear a thing
you're just out of frame
and the crowd keeps telling you
one thing, over again:
nobody bothers with you anymore
'cause you wave them away,
just call it a phase--
i've been watching your act,
and i'm pretty impressed,
but you don't have to go off
if you don't want to.
you can just stay here
and be quiet all night.
now i'm taking photographs
of places that you say
used to bring you down,
'cause some good-ol'-boy
honky-tonk
motherfucker there
used to try and boss you around--
say it out loud,
tired and true,
just trying to get over
the things hiding underneath you;
if you feel like a blank
when you get to the root,
just remember i know
the same way that you do
that the enemy is within.

The Enemy Is Within

Girlfiend is something of a "fake band," consisting largely of singer-songwriter Hanna Tashjian and whoever else she can find to play with. If that's no one, cellphone bedroom recordings get made for equal parts exposure and so she doesn't forget the damn songs. Due to being prolific and moderately pretentious, songs are being recorded and uploaded in no particular order aside from "oh man I should totally do this one." I'm slowly working through almost a 2-year backlog of songs, so keep watching this space if you like what you hear!

girlfiendband